A BILL to amend and reenact sections five and forty-six-i,
article two, chapter twenty of the code of West Virginia,
one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating
to allowing the use of a crossbow in hunting deer.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections five and forty-six-i, article two, chapter
twenty of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred
thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as
follows:ARTICLE 2. WILDLIFE RESOURCES.

§20-2-5. Unlawful methods of hunting and fishing andother

unlawful acts

.
Except as authorized by the director, it is unlawful at any
time for any person to:
(1) Shoot at or to shoot any wild bird or animal unless it is plainly visible to him;
(2) Dig out, cut out or smoke out, or in any manner take or
attempt to take, any live wild animal or wild bird out of its den
or place of refuge, except as may be authorized by regulations
promulgated by the director or by law;
(3) Make use of, or take advantage of, any artificial light
in hunting, locating, attracting, taking, trapping or killing any
wild bird or wild animal, or to attempt to do so, while having in
his or her possession or subject to his or her control, or for
any person accompanying him or her to have in his or her
possession or subject to his or her control, any firearm, whether
cased or uncased, bow, arrow, or both, or other implement or
device suitable for taking, killing or trapping a wild bird or
animal: Provided, That it shall not be unlawful to hunt or take
raccoon, opossum or skunk by the use of artificial lights. No
person shall be guilty of a violation of this subdivision merely
because he or she looks for, looks at, attracts or makes
motionless a wild bird or wild animal with or by the use of an
artificial light, unless at such time he or she has in his or her
possession a firearm, whether cased or uncased, bow, arrow, or
both, or other implement or device suitable for taking, killing
or trapping a wild bird or wild animal, or unless such artificial
light (other than the head lamps of an automobile or other land
conveyance) is attached to, a part of, or used from within or upon an automobile or other land conveyance.
Any person violating the provisions of this subdivision
shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof,
shall for each offense be fined not less than one hundred dollars
nor more than five hundred dollars and shall be imprisoned in the
county jail for not less than ten days nor more than one hundred
days;
(4) Hunt for, take, kill, wound or shoot at wild animals or
wild birds from an airplane, or other airborne conveyance, an
automobile, or other land conveyance, or from a motor-driven
water conveyance, except as may be authorized by regulations
promulgated by the director;
(5) Take any beaver or muskrat by any means other than by
trap;
(6) Catch, capture, take or kill by seine, net, bait, trap
or snare or like device of any kind, any wild turkey, ruffed
grouse, pheasant or quail;
(7) Destroy or attempt to destroy needlessly or willfully
the nest or eggs of any wild bird or have in his or her
possession such nest or eggs unless authorized to do so under
regulations or under a permit by the director;
(8) Except as provided in section six of this article, carry
an uncased or loaded gun in any of the woods of this state except
during the open firearms hunting season for wild animals and nonmigratory wild birds within any county of the state, unless he
or she has in his or her possession a permit in writing issued to
him or her by the director: Provided, That this section shall
not prohibit hunting or taking of unprotected species of wild
animals and wild birds and migratory wild birds, during the open
season, in the open fields, open water and open marshes of the
state;
(9) Except as provided in subdivision (11) below or in
section six of this article, carry an uncased or loaded gun after
the hour of five o'clock antemeridian on Sunday in any woods or
on any highway, railroad right-of-way, public road, field or
stream of this state, except at a regularly used rifle, pistol,
skeet, target or trapshooting ground or range;
(10) Have in his or her possession a loaded firearm or a
firearm from the magazine of which all shells and cartridges have
not been removed, in or on any vehicle or conveyance, or its
attachments, within the state, except as may otherwise be
provided by law or regulation. Except as hereinafter provided,
between five o'clock postmeridian of one day and seven o'clock
antemeridian, eastern standard time of the day following, any
unloaded firearm, being lawfully carried in accordance with the
foregoing provisions, shall be so carried only when in a case or
taken apart and securely wrapped. During the period from the
first day of July to the thirtieth day of September, inclusive, of each year, the foregoing requirements relative to carrying
certain unloaded firearms shall be permissible only from
eight-thirty o'clock postmeridian to five o'clock antemeridian,
eastern standard time;
(11) Hunt, catch, take, kill, trap, injure or pursue with
firearms or other implement by which wildlife may be taken after
the hour of five o'clock antemeridian on Sunday any wild animals
or wild birds: Provided, That traps previously and legally set
may be tended after the hour of five o'clock antemeridian on
Sunday, and the person so doing may carry only a twenty-two
caliber firearm for the purpose of humanely dispatching trapped
animals;
(12) Hunt with firearms or long bow while under the
influence of intoxicating liquor;
(13) Hunt, catch, take, kill, injure or pursue a wild animal
or bird with the use of a ferret;
(14) Buy raw furs, pelts or skins of fur-bearing animals
unless licensed to do so;
(15) Catch, take, kill or attempt to catch, take or kill any
fish at any time by any means other than by rod, line and hooks
with natural or artificial lures unless otherwise authorized by
law or regulation issued by the director: Provided, That snaring
of any species of suckers, carp, fallfish and creek chubs shall
at all times be lawful;
(16) Employ or hire, or induce or persuade, by the use of
money or other things of value, or by any means, any person to
hunt, take, catch or kill any wild animal or wild bird except
those species on which there is no closed season, or to fish for,
catch, take or kill any fish, amphibian or aquatic life which is
protected by the provisions of this chapter or regulations of the
director, or the sale of which is prohibited;
(17) Hunt, catch, take, kill, capture, pursue, transport,
possess or use any migratory game or nongame birds included in
the terms of conventions between the United States and Great
Britain and between the United States and United Mexican States
for the protection of migratory birds and wild mammals concluded,
respectively, the sixteenth day of August, one thousand nine
hundred sixteen, and the seventh day of February, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-six, except during the time and in the manner
and numbers prescribed by the Federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act
and regulations made thereunder;
(18) Kill, take, catch or have in his or her possession,
living or dead, any wild bird, other than a game bird; or expose
for sale, or transport within or without the state any such bird,
except as aforesaid. No part of the plumage, skin or body of any
protected bird shall be sold or had in possession for sale,
except mounted or stuffed plumage, skin, bodies or heads of such
birds legally taken and stuffed or mounted, irrespective of whether such bird was captured within or without this state,
except the English or European sparrow (Passer domesticus),
starling (Sturnus vulgaris), crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) and
cowbird (Molothrus ater), which shall not be protected and the
killing thereof at any time is lawful;
(19) Use dynamite or any like explosive or poisonous mixture
placed in any waters of the state for the purpose of killing or
taking fish. Any person violating the provisions of this
subdivision shall be guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction
thereof, shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars or
imprisoned for not less than six months nor more than three
years, or both fined and imprisoned;
(20) Have a bow and gun, or have a gun and any arrow or
arrows, in the fields or woods at the same time;(21) Have a crossbow in the woods or fields or use a
crossbow to hunt for, take or attempt to take any wildlife;(22)(21) Take or attempt to take turkey, bear, elk or deer
with any arrow unless the same is equipped with a point having at
least two sharp cutting edges measuring in excess of three
fourths of an inch wide;(23)(22) Take or attempt to take any wildlife with an arrow
having an explosive head or shaft, a poisoned arrow or an arrow
which would affect wildlife by any chemical action;(24)(23) Shoot an arrow across any public highway or from aircraft, motor-driven watercraft, motor vehicle or other land
conveyance;(25)(24) Permit any dog owned by him or her or under his
or her control to chase, pursue or follow upon the track of any
wild animal or wild bird, either day or night, between the first
day of May and the fifteenth day of August next following:
Provided, That dogs may be trained on wild animals and wild
birds, except deer and wild turkeys, and field trials may be held
or conducted on the grounds or lands of the owner or by his or
her bona fide tenant or tenants or upon the grounds or lands of
another person with his or her written permission or on public
lands, at any time: Provided, however, That notwithstanding any
of the above provisions, no person may train a dog in any county,
or portion thereof, in which a legal bear hunting season has been
established prior to the first day of July, one thousand nine
hundred eighty-eight, except that residents may train dogs in
such counties after the twenty-fourth day of August through the
end of the legal small game hunting season: Provided further,
That nonresidents shall not train dogs in this state at any time
except during the legal small game hunting season: And provided
further, That the person training said dogs does not have
firearms or other implements in his or her possession during the
closed season on such wild animals and wild birds, whereby wild
animals or wild birds could be taken or killed;(26)(25) Conduct or participate in a field trial,
shoot-to-retrieve field trial, water race or wild hunt hereafter
referred to as trial: Provided, That any person, group of
persons, club or organization may hold such trial at any time of
the year upon obtaining such permit as is provided for in section
fifty-six of this article. The person responsible for obtaining
said permit shall prepare and keep an accurate record of the
names and addresses of all persons participating in said trial,
and make same readily available for inspection by any
conservation officer upon request; and(27)(26) Except as provided in section four of this
article, hunt, catch, take, kill or attempt to hunt, catch, take
or kill any wild animal, wild bird or wild fowl except during the
open season established by regulation of the director as
authorized by subdivision (6), section seven, article one of this
chapter.

§20-2-46i. Class U resident and Class UU nonresident archery

deer hunting licenses.

On or after the first day of January, one thousand nine
hundred eighty-nine, a Class U license shall be a resident
statewide archery deer hunting license. A Class UU license shall
be a nonresident statewide archery deer hunting license. A Class
U or Class UU license shall entitle the licensee to hunt for and
kill deer with a bow or crossbow during the archery deer season in all counties of the state, except as prohibited by the rules
and regulations of the director or commission. The fee for the
Class U archery deer license shall be five dollars. The fee for
the Class UU license shall be ten dollars.
The licenses shall be issued in a form prescribed by the
director, shall be in addition to a Class A, Class AB or Class E
license and shall be valid only when accompanied thereby.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to allow the use of a
crossbow in deer hunting.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.